Boy, oh boy

What better cure is there for insomnia than staying up because you have to? Now that Vv is out of diapers and helping herself more and more everyday, we're diving back in. Mama is now 13 weeks along and can now explain why she isn't drinking and is so obsessed with pasteurization. The baby looked happy and healthy during the 12 week ultrasound. We saw the baby play, we saw the baby sleep. We saw the baby's feet and we saw the baby's hands. Then we saw what we didn't expect to see for another 8 weeks, that the baby is a boy. He is due to arrive on January 19th.

Vacation: Phase II

The second half of our vacation took us to wine country in the Niagara region of southern Ontario to celebrate the wedding of Alex and Tim. And despite what you might think, Canadian vineyards are not filled with hops and barley. However, most of those grapes are going to be harvested at -8 degrees Celcius to make something called Ice Wine. Oh, Canada.

Vv is accustomed to being the prettiest girl when it comes to dressing up, but this event had serious competition. Mama served as a bridesmaid to college classmate and friend of the blog, Alex McIntyre-Smith-Jackson (Miss Jackson if your nasty). The ceremony was beautiful with nary a dull moment. And thanks to Grammy and Grampa for making the trip too to allow us to celebrate deep into the night. Although Vv now expects ice cream after every meal. I guess you get what you pay for when it comes to babysitters.

Is Questions the weak link in Kings?

It's the most wonderful time of the year. No time of year is more rich with traditions than a June weekend in Cape May. Veronica reunited with old friends and even met a new one. The whole gang got together for a weekend of fun in the Sun, crazy nights out, and beer croquet. Ok... maybe we applied the SPF 50 twice to get the necessary 100 SPF, spent more time at breakfast than Carneys, and had to loosen the rules of beer croquet to just croquet. But we've got young folks in training to think about. And we need them fully committed to Brendan Tour so they can help us replace Questions once they're old enough.

Father's Day

Best Father's Day ever. We celebrated from the beaches to the mountains and all the important spots in between. Daddy and Vv started the day with their annual Top Pot breakfast. Then we burned off those delicious calories by trying to stay warm at the sculpture garden and throwing rocks at the beach. Mama was waiting for us at home with a present, which she wisely wrapped without Vv seeing it first. Next, we met Henry and the Heaters for a hike to Franklin Falls. Veronica was a trooper and did the whole 2 mile hike herself.

could that be... Summer?

Is Grayson wearing sunglasses? Is Vv wearing short sleeves? Heck Ya! We celebrated the seasons going round and round with a carousel ride of course. The surbanites headed into the big city for some urban, er... wildlife, fun at the zoo. After an exhausting trek around the zoo, we finished the day off with burgers, fries, and milkshakes from Dick's Drive-in. We are ready for summer!

Memorial Day weekend was not quite the traditional beginning of summer that we hoped for, despite Seattle's best effort to convince itself otherwise. We attended the Folk Life music festival at Seattle Center. Veronica loved the music and was imitating dance moves she saw when we got home. Although the Hawaiian folk dance didn't quite look the same when set to "Pokerface". It was a fun day of fair food and balloon animals.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to Mama! Mama wanted a relaxing Mother's Day and that's what she got. She and Vv enjoyed Mama's new tv in bed, french pastries at lunch, and home-ground burgers for dinner. We took advantage of the unexpected Sun and enjoyed an afternoon at the park. Sliding, swinging, chasing, digging; just the relaxing afternoon Mama asked for.

In other news, Veronica enjoyed the royal wedding and spontaneously dressed up in her best princess outfit. Thankfully there weren't any ridiculous hats for her to don. Although she did find a cowboy outfit a few days later that had a hat. No comments on that outfit.

Easter

Veronica could get used to Easter. Grammy flew out from PA with lots of chocolate, toys, and Easter themed tchotchkes. Grammy's spoiling was rivaled only by that wily bunny. How does he get in the house anyway? Veronica loved getting dressed up for church, while the rest of the little girls wished she had just stayed home. There was an Easter egg hunt at the zoo. Thankfully the eggs were empty, otherwise we would have been there all day.